Truth And Deception
(Chapter Eighteen: One Little Smile)
Elliot sat on one end of the couch holding a pacifier in Bailey's little mouth and cooing down to her as she wrapped her little hand tight around his finger. In the six weeks since they had been born she had quickly become a daddy's girl. Not that he didn't love Aubrey equally, but she had taken more to Olivia.
Bailey being the more laid back and more patient of the two usually took round two at the breast, waiting patiently with a pacifier while her sister ate first. Aubrey didn't take a pacifier, ever. If she was hungry she wanted to eat and she wanted to eat now. Placing a pacifier in her mouth only resulted in a very upset baby.
Bailey stared up at Elliot with her little brown eyes as he grinned down at her. Babies, especially newborn twins were a lot of work, but he had forgotten until these two came along just how much fun they were as well.
"Okay switch," Olivia said from the other end of the sofa as she pulled Aubrey from her breast and handed her off to Elliot to burp. They traded off twins as Olivia smiled and kissed little Bailey. "Are you hungry too, sweetheart?" She asked looking down as the little brown eyed angel. She nestled the little girl close to her and rocked her gently in her arms as she began to nurse.
"I think we finally got the hang of this twins thing."
"Yeah," Olivia replied. "It only took us six weeks," she said with a smile.
"Hey we caught on pretty fast. I don't think Kathy and I ever really got the hang of it. And we had two kids before them. So what do my girls have planned for today?"
"First big day out. We have a check up, all three of us. Them with Dr. Sands, the pediatrician and me with Dr. Raines. I think they get shots and we'll see how they are going development wise. Then I figured now that they are actually big enough to get out of the house for a little while, we'd do a little shopping. We need everything for the house and diapers and I want to get them each a new dress for the work picnic next week. It will be the first time anyone outside our department has seen them. I want them to be adorable."
"They are the cutest kids in the world, they are always adorable."
"I also want to get more of that alcohol hand gel. If anyone holds or touches them they are using that stuff first."
"Good call."
"Then I was thinking maybe we would come and visit daddy and grandpa at work."
Elliot smiled. "I have been waiting patiently until I could show them off at work. Every day people ask how they are doing and want to see the newest pictures. Fin, Munch and Casey have only seen them once or twice since they were born. I am sure they will all be excited to see them."
"You're going to be late," Olivia said laying Bailey into the bassinette and handing Elliot a cup of coffee in exchange for Aubrey.
"I gotta run. But I love this morning feeding time. This and that little bit of play time in the evenings before they go to bed are my favorite times of the day." Elliot kissed his wife. "Bye baby, I love you. Bye-bye girls, daddy loves you, too." He kissed the top of Aubrey's little head then leaned into the bassinette to give Bailey a kiss as well. "Call me while you're out and we can meet for lunch. I'll put the stroller in the car for you."
"Thank you," she said with a smile as Elliot grabbed the stroller from the closet and carried it to the elevator with him.
Olivia changed the girls and turned on the little mobile above the bassinette. She rolled the bassinette down the hall in front of the bathroom as she stepped inside and grabbed a quick shower while the babies napped peacefully. She got dressed and fixed her hair then headed for the nursery to pull out two little summer dresses with matching diaper covers, one a green colored fabric with little bunnies on it and the other yellow with teddy bears.
She brought the diaper bag and carriers into the nursery sitting them at one end of the changing table. Olivia packed the diaper bag with fresh diapers two changes of clothes and a handful of burp cloths. She then picked one of the babies up from the bassinette and changed her diaper and put her little dress on her. She placed the little lacy bonnet on her daughter's head and covered her with a blanket as she buckled the baby into her seat.
"Next," she said picking Bailey up from the bassinette. "There's mommy's girl," she said kissing the baby as she laid her down on the changing table.
She proceeded to change and dress baby number two and buckle her into her seat as well covering her with a blanket. Olivia slipped the strap of the diaper bag over her shoulder and picked up the two carriers. She maneuvered carefully sideways through the nursery door and down the hall sitting the babies down onto the sofa as she grabbed a few bottles of pre-pumped breast milk and put them into the diaper bag as well.
"Here we go girls," she said as she picked up the two carriers with the straps of her purse and the diaper bag over one shoulder. In the hall she sat one baby down to lock the apartment door and push the button for the elevator. Again in the elevator she sat a carrier down pushing the button for the parking garage.
"Morning Mr. Stabler," Josh the parking attendant said as she exited the elevator and headed for her SUV.
"Morning, Josh."
"Looks like you have your hands full. Is there anything I can help you with?" He asked running after her.
Olivia was still new enough at this mommy thing that she wasn't about to hand over one of her children to the twenty something actor want to be son of the building owner. She knew Josh well enough to know that he would never hurt the babies, but right now there weren't many people she did trust to carry her kids around.
"Can you take the keys from my hand and push the button to unlock the car?" She asked turning to offer him the key ring dangling on one of her fingers.
"Yes ma'am," he said pushing the button as they heard the beep and the lights flashed on her car as the alarm unarmed itself. "Let me get the door for you," he said opening the door to the back seat allowing her to sit the car seats inside."
"Thank you Josh," she said pulling a ten dollar bill from her purse to tip him.
"That isn't necessary ma'am. Anytime you need help, just let me know. Carrying groceries or whatever."
"Thank you. Take the money Josh, you really are a big help."
"Thank you ma'am. Your little girls are getting much bigger. Not so tiny anymore, huh?"
"No, they are getting bigger fast."
"How are they doing?"
"Really well, thank you."
"Alright ma'am. I'm on until ten o'clock tonight if you need anything just let me know."
"Thanks Josh. I will be back a little later with some shopping bags…"
"I'd be glad to carry them up for you. I guess with twins you always have your hands full."
"Yeah pretty much," she smiled.
Olivia climbed into the SUV and headed across town to her appointment.
A couple of hours later she pulled into the parking lot of the station house.
"Hey there," she hears Elliot's voice behind her.
"Didn't we just see you at lunch?" She said with a smile. "You know my husband is a cop. Following me around is liable to get you into trouble."
Elliot smiled and kissed her.
"Can you set up the stroller for me?"
"Sure, what do you need the stroller for?"
"I figured I would put them into it and let them stretch out a little bit. Rest a little better while I get some work done and check my messages."
"It's a good theory," Elliot said as she unbuckled Aubrey from her seat and handed her off to him.
"Why do you say that?"
"Do you honestly think either of these kids is going to spend more than five minutes in the stroller? Cragen won't put them down that long. And if he does someone else will pick them up. They are going to spend the entire visit being carried around."
Olivia smiled. "So should I just leave them in their seats for now? Then put them in the stroller while I do the shopping?"
"Here," he said kissing Aubrey's forehead. "you take her and I will get Bailey and the other car seat."
Elliot folded back up the stroller and placed it back into the hatch of the SUV, then made his way around to unbuckle little Bailey's car seat. "She's still sleeping," he said with a smile as he picked up Aubrey's car seat as well and they headed for the elevator.
Inside he sat the two seats on his desk. Cragen spotted the baby in Olivia's arms and confiscated her immediately, kissing Liv softly on the cheek.
"Grandpa's girls came to visit him at work," he announced proudly. "Hey there Bailey," he said staring down at the baby girl with a smile.
Olivia grinned at him and pointed to the other carrier.
"Aubrey. Sorry about that honey. Grandpa will get it right one of these days."
Olivia chuckled a little.
Elliot unbuckled Bailey and held her against him as he walked around the room patting her on the back in an attempt to wake her up. He cradled his daughter as Munch and Fin walked in.
"They are getting so big," Fin said as he brushed his fingertip across the tuft of dark hair sticking out from under Bailey's little bonnet.
"Aubrey is now seven pounds even and Bailey is six pounds eight ounces. The pediatrician said they are both doing really well. Very healthy babies."
"Daddy's big girls," Elliot said looking down at Bailey as she smiled up at him. "Babe, she smiled at me."
"She did?" Olivia walked to Elliot's side and looked down at Bailey smiling up at her daddy and looking at him with her mother's brown eyes. "Good girl," Olivia cooed at her daughter. "That is our first smile." She kissed the baby and looked up at Elliot. "She is definitely her daddy's girl."
A while later Olivia took the girls on their first shopping trip. Elliot however sat around at work and got ready for court that afternoon. As they stood to go Munch noticed a spot on Elliot's tie.
"Oh," Elliot said reaching for a napkin, "it's spit up."
"You mean to tell me you have been walking around all day with baby vomit on your tie? We have to be in court in half an hour and that is disgusting," Munch protested.
"Relax man," Fin interrupted, "all kids do it."
"It is still disgusting."
"The spot won't come off," Elliot said loosening his tie.
"What are you doing?" Munch asked. "You can't go into court without a tie!"
"I have another one in my locker. Just give me a second."
"You keep a spare tie in your locker?"
"Munch, the man has seven children. Do you really think this is the first time this has ever happened?" Fin asked sarcastically.
"It's good for that or those days when you deposit part of your lunch on your tie. It is just handy to have it just in case."
Fin chuckled. "Maybe you should think about keeping a spare in your locker," he said pointing to the small and barely noticeable coffee stain on Munch's tie.
"Hey, that is old. Besides at least it isn't regurgitated baby formula!"
"Neither is mine," Elliot said with a smirk.
"No?"
"No, Olivia breastfeeds!"
Munch groaned and grabbed his suit jacket off the back of his chair as he walked toward the elevator. "That was not something that I needed to know!"
Elliot and Fin followed behind him laughing so hard at the face he had made they could barely breathe.
That evening Olivia had dinner waiting for Elliot when he arrived home. They enjoyed a quiet romantic meal by candle light as the girls slept in their bassinette in the living room.
After dinner it was bath time for the babies. It was Elliot's job to "catch" them and "ring them out" after Olivia pulled them out. He would stand behind her at the sink and occupy one baby while she gave the other a bath. Then he would grab a yellow hooded ducky towel for the hand off and move the first baby to the nursery to dry her off and dress her as mommy bathed the next baby.
Elliot would finish laying his daughter into the bassinette and move into position with the second yellow ducky towel to catch the next baby and dress her. Meanwhile Olivia would move to the rocking chair and nurse the first one. By now they had perfected this system and were able to pull it off fairly easily.
But tonight was a big night for the girls. Tonight mommy had decided they were going to spend their first night in their own cribs instead of sleeping together in the bassinette in mommy and daddy's bedroom.
Elliot stood holding Aubrey and looking at her crib with her name in cotton candy pink letters above it.
"Are your sure about this?" He asked Olivia.
"It is just a trial, Elliot. If they don't take to the separation immediately then I will put them both in the same crib for now. But it is as good a time as any to transfer them to the crib from the bassinette. We can still use the bassinette for naps, but they are big enough now to be in their cribs."
"Okay," he replied unsure of how much he agreed with her on this. He laid a sleeping Aubrey into the crib and watched her for a moment.
"They are fine daddy," Olivia said slipping her arms around his waist and kissing his cheek. "We can't watch them sleep every night of their lives."
"I know. It is just hard. They are getting big so fast. I am surprised you are taking it this well."
She laughed as she combed her fingers in his hair. "Our room is twelve feet away. If they cry we can come get them. But they will never learn this if we don't give them the chance. They are not going to be little babies forever, Elliot. But they are never going to grown into strong adults either if we don't give them the chance to experience new things."
"I'll remember that when they want to start dating at thirteen years old. You think babies are scary? Teenagers are horrifying!"
Olivia laughed again and kissed him. "Besides, I think this will give mommy and daddy some much needed alone time." She slipped her hand into his and lead him down the hall to the bedroom. She kissed him passionately as she undid his tie and unbuttoned his shirt.
"Can we even do this yet?" He asked as he broke their lips apart.
"It's fine," she said kicking off her shoes and unzipping her jeans. "I had a doctors appointment today too, remember?"
"She said it's alright? I don't want to hurt you."
"She said it's alright," Olivia whispered against his lips as she stepped out of her jeans.
She stood in front of him wearing only a tee shirt and her black lace boy short underwear and she looked incredible. To look at her you couldn't even tell she had been pregnant, let alone given birth to twins just six weeks earlier. The only evidence of delivery at all was the pink scar across her abdomen that seemed to fade more each day.
Olivia kissed him passionately and dropped his pants to the floor beside hers. She playfully pushed him back onto the bed and crawled over beside him.
"What?" She asked pressing her lips together. "You don't want to?"
"I want to. I really want to," he said as his hand found its way to rest on her amazing ass just above the black lace that covered it. "Are you sure they're okay?"
"If they wake up then we'll stop and I will go get them. We can't just never have sex again because we have kids, Elliot."
"You're right," he growled as he flipped her over and pinned her to the bed.
Olivia squealed playfully as he kissed her tenderly and pushed his hand up under her shirt. She groaned and winced in pain as Elliot pulled back to look at her. "Easy there, they are a little tender."
"I'm sorry," he said pulling back from her.
"It's okay. Just be gentle. It's a breastfeeding thing. Maybe it's best if you don't touch them a lot."
"That is going to be hard. I'm a breast man and," he laughed, "they are so great."
Olivia laughed back at him. "You think that until you touch me wrong and get leaked on. Pretty gross, but my doctor said it is common during sex while breast feeding."
"Nice. Anything else off limits?"
Olivia looked at him and stared into his eyes.
"I'm sorry, honey. I don't mean to be difficult," he said softly. "I have just never had had to make love to you under conditions before."
She laid back onto the bed beside him and exhaled softly. "What if I just kept my shirt on? You could still feel around under it, but that would keep you from getting too carried away and soak up anything that may leak. God this is starting to sound not even remotely sexy," she said sitting up.
"No," Elliot said pulling her back down to the bed. "This is like everything else. We just have to find a system. A way that works for us. After that we will be fine."
"Yeah, except that my hormones are raging and I am horny as hell and just want to do it already. Sex didn't used to be this complicated."
"Welcome to the land of parenthood," Elliot said sarcastically. "Everything just got more complicated. But that doesn't mean we cant make it work. I love you and I want you," he said kissing her lips. "I will do it standing on my head if that is what is comfortable for you. I just have not had sex with my wife in…God, I don't remember how long. So you can leave your shirt on, the panties are coming off," he said pulling them from her hips, "and I will do it any way you like."
Olivia smiled. "Really?"
"Really," Elliot said as he kissed her lips. "You want foreplay? You get foreplay, hours of it."
"Not tonight," she said wrinkling her eyebrow at him. She raised up a little in the bed. "Tonight, I just want the sex. Hard and strong," she said dragging her fingertip over his cheek. "Until we just cant take anymore and we collapse in pleasure in each other's arms."
"Really?" Elliot asked in disbelief. He had never know a woman to turn down the foreplay.
"Really," she said with a naughty smile. "We can save the foreplay for round two. Right now, I just want to feel my husband inside me again."
"I am not quite sure why, but that is incredibly hot," Elliot said moving over her on the bed and kissing her lips.
Olivia giggled. "Don't be afraid to get rough," she said with a wink. "Just watch grabbing the boobs."
Elliot smiled like a kid at Christmas.
"Oh," she said sitting up from the bed. "One more thing," she reached to the nightstand drawer and tossed him a condom.
"We're using condoms now?"
"Just until I can go in and get my IUD. I really don't want to chance getting pregnant again right now. And did you know that your chances of having twins are greater if you conceive while you are breastfeeding?"
"That is scary."
"I know. So I picked up an extra large box of these little babies while I was out today. You should have seen the look on the pharmacists face when I walked to the counter pushing a stroller with twins to pay for a package of Pampers and an economy sized box of condoms. Priceless!"
Elliot laughed. "Come here you!" He said laying her back against the bed and kissing her.